Black beluga lentil and vegetable soup
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients (Serves 6)
- 1/2 cup / 3.5 oz. / 100 g black beluga lentils
- 1 tablespoon / 15 ml EV olive oil
- 1 medium-large onion 9 oz. /250 g, finely chopped
- 3/4 lb / 12 oz. / 340 g approximately half baby turnips and half baby red beets, greens set aside for another use (see Note below)
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 2 cups / 475 ml light chicken stock or vegetable broth, possibly homemade +
- 2 cups/ 475 ml water
- 4-5 oz. / 115-140 g fresh spinach leaves or baby spinach
- Fine sea salt — the amount will depend on how salty the stock or broth is
- A dash of freshly milled black pepper
Instructions
Note: The greens of both red beets and turnips are edible and quite nice. I cook them with other leafy greens, like rainbow chard and kale.
Sort through lentils and remove any pebbles and bits of debris, then rinse in cold water and drain.
Warm up oil in a 6-qt soup pot and add the onion. Stir to coat and cook on gentle heat for 15 minutes, stirring every now and then. The onion will be soft and start to brown.
In the meantime, scrub root vegetables well then dice them. To ensure even cooking, make sure the size of dice is about 1/4-3/8 inch / 6-9 mm.
Add turmeric to the onion and stir, then add lentils, beets and turnips and stir.
Pour stock/broth and water into the pot.
Cover the pot, bring soup to a boil and cook on gentle heat until lentils and vegetables are tender. Check after 20 minutes.
In the meantime, wash spinach leaves and chop them.
When the soup is ready, season with salt to taste and black pepper. Add the spinach to the pot, cover and remove from the heat. The tender fresh spinach cooks with the residual heat.
It is better to let the soup rest for a while before eating it, to allow the flavor to ripen.
When mealtime approaches, bring soup back to boiling temperature and remove from the heat.
Ladle into soup bowls and serve, optionally topped with a dollop or two of homemade fromage blanc.